One person can make a difference

This past Sunday, I shared my thoughts on the first two chapters from the book of Esther.

Today, I'm examining the entire book as a whole, as Esther is well-deserved to have a book all her own.

Why, you may ask?

Simple: the book of Esther is another example of one person making a difference.  Despite disadvantages in her upbringing, with her being a descendant from Israel, not from Persia, as well as an orphan (adopted by her uncle), she took the gifts God had given her and prevailed.

I did miss a few things in chapter two that is worth noting.  From the time she went to the palace to when she met the king, she spent much time learning and training to do just the right thing for her people.  The Lord set her upon the path she was about to embark and, with the proper guidance, she not only won the heart of the king, she won the hearts of the people.

The book of Esther is just another example, in the history of God's people, where a woman had much influence over the course of history, just as God commanded.

The Bible is loaded with people who, seemingly single-handedly, albeit with the awesome blessing of our Lord God, made a difference.  No matter their upbringing or disadvantages, they had favor of God and did what they were meant to do.

Drunken festivities turn bad, then good

In the first chapter from the book of Esther, the Persian king held a grand feast, displaying his great wealth and might, for 180 days.  Near the end of the feast was a week-long banquet for all of the people, from great to least.  The king allowed as much drinking as possible.  The queen held a similar banquet for the women of the palace.

By the end of the festivities, the king wanted to show off his queen.  He ordered her to wear her crown, so she could show off her beauty to the others.

But she refused to come.

This made the king angry.  So angry that, after much counsel with his advisors, made a decree that he would find himself a new queen and banish the current queen.

Then, starting in the second chapter, the search for a new queen began.  Leaders from each province gathered the most beautiful women to come to the palace.  This is where we find Esther.  You see, Esther was adopted by her uncle Mordecai, who was a Jew and her previously been taken into exile from Jerusalem when King Nebuchadnezzar took over Judah.

Esther was very beautiful and seemed to curry favor with all of those she met.  Even at the palace, while she waited to meet with the king, she was given seven hand-picked female servants and given a special diet and treatment.  She also did not reveal her ethnicity, as her uncle had ordered her not to.

Long story short, the king chose Esther as his queen and her uncle Mordecai was given a new position in the palace.

One day, Mordecai overheard two of the king's servants plotting to assassinate the king.  Mordecai reported this to Queen Esther, who then told the king.  An investigation was completed, verifying that the report was true, and the two servants were hanged from the gallows.

Don't envy those who are wicked in their ways

Psalm 73 is the first psalm in the third book of Psalms.

This is an interesting psalm, for the speaker appears to envy those who are wicked.  He sees how well-fed they are, how they appear to have everything of material worth, and yet they continue to speak arrogantly and maliciously.

These people strut around, mocking God, and their material wealth seems to increase.

The speaker struggles with understanding all of this, seems to feel they are being punished and feels helpless.

Then, the speaker comes to the understanding that the Lord's sanctuary is their ultimate destiny and those who are wicked are doomed to desolation.

The Lord is our refuge, no matter what material possessions others may have.  Only God can give strength to our hearts and He is our refuge.

A king's duty to the needy and poor

Psalm 72 is the final psalm of David.

In this psalm, David describes many qualities and duties of a king.

The king has a love of justice, righteousness, and judges people in the right way as prescribed by the Wisdom of the Lord.

The poor will always be treated fairly.

The oppressors of the needy will be crushed.

The king's rule is as refreshing as spring rain or freshly cut grass, and there will be an abundance of prosperity.

Throughout this psalm is a constant need for the poor and needy to be defended and provided for.  Their needs will be met with abundance, so they can thrive and grow like grass in a field.

Reading this psalm definitely portraits not only an earthly king, but the One King in our Lord, through His Son Jesus.

May He reign forever and ever.  Amen.

Righting wrongs

 In the final chapter from the book of Nehemiah, chapter 13, there was a priest named Eliashib.  He was appointed to watch over the house of God and had taken upon himself to reassign a large room to an adversary of Jerusalem named Tobiah.

All of the items that were usually stored in that room was removed and Tobiah's belongings were placed inside.  Even all of those assigned to duties inside the house of God were told to leave, so they left to tend their fields.

When Nehemiah returned from Syria, he was not happy with what had transpired.  He threw out all of Tobiah's belongings and gave the order to have the rooms in the house of God cleaned.  He then righted the wrongs done to him by the previous priest and set everything back in order.

Nehemiah trusted Eliashib prior to his trip, because Eliashib was a very gifted priest.  But he was not faithful to God, and that is where everything went wrong.  There were many things that occurred while he was away.  Even those who had promised not to wed and have children from those who did not believe in God, they did so in his absence.  Also, merchants set up tables on the Sabbath and sold their wares.  Nehemiah threw them out of the city and said he would arrest them if they continued.

Ancient record keeping

While reading chapters 11 and 12 from the book of Nehemiah, I was struck by the meticulous record keeping that was had in ancient times.

Other books of the Bible have had this same level of detail, but this is where it struck for me.

In these chapters, the Israelites occupied the city of Jerusalem.  Each tribe name was listed, with records of whom in each family, the number of descendants, and their roles in the city.  And when I say the number of descendants, I don't mean to say "about 500" or "around 300".  No, there are numbers like 468 or 822 or 128.

Exact numbers.

Which goes to show that the level of record keeping, so many generations before Jesus walked on this planet, was so meticulous and accurate that it begs the question: why wouldn't you believe any of it?  Why question it?

And in looking at earthly family of Jesus, the ancestors of Joseph can be traced back to the early books of the Bible.  And if those are true, then, quite frankly, everything else has to be true as well.

Think about that the next time you question events in the Bible.  Even events in the Old Testament can be traced back by independent means not listed in the Bible, like a verified third party if you will.

Jesus's feeling toward death

"Jesus wept."

These two words comprise the shortest verse in the Bible: chapter 11 from the Gospel of John, verse 35.

Because of this, we know that Jesus can grieve.  He was grieving over the death of one of his followers, Lazarus.

I was listening to a podcast yesterday, one from RZIM (the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries), and they were talking about God's feeling toward death.  They said that every single death hurts God, causing Him to grieve.

Then it hit me.  God, Our Heavenly Father, grieved deeply when my wife Melissa passed away in January 2020.  Even though her spirit went right into His loving arms, He still grieved.

A warmth hit me when this notion came over me.  A warmth of love from our Lord.

He is with all at all times.

In life.

And grieves in our passing from this earthly world into Heaven.